Review of Hercules (2014) by Dcedmonds — 13 Nov 2014

"Hercules" 10 Scale Rating: 6.5 (Decent) ...

The Good: Johnson, already with a physique larger than life as it is, stands tall throughout the film and is not only an imposing mythical figure, but also pulls it off dramatically. Based on a graphic novel, the story at it's core is a solid one. A more human Hercules whose exploits are the work of tall tales based on real events, was a great idea and piqued my interest. Hercules was not alone though. His cohorts were also well characterized and interesting. I honestly rooted for them and hoped that they all lived. Veteran actors Ian McShane and Rufus Sewell especially stood out as members of Hercules' group of mercenaries. The pair had some of the best lines in the film.

The Bad: Unfortunately, the story falls apart somewhat and becomes overly straight-forward. This is to be expected for this sort of film, but it is a real let down regardless. Obstacles were presented and overcome at lightning speed before they even had time to set in. At times, the film was cheesier than it needed to be and some of the humor simply didn't work. Lastly, the antagonists were cliche characters that we've already seen in other films ... but not as deep or interesting. Hercules deserved better foes to fight. A much better film than I expected, but falls just short of being truly good.